Safety stop for awnings



April 25, 1950 E. MAHAFFEY SAFETY STOP FOR AWNINGS Filed Aug. 24, 1946I11 rel/tor Ewe/2e Mafia 15423.

@6 61. B y W Patented Apr. 25;, 1955 UNI TED STATES PAT- OFF ICE SAFETYSTOP FOR AWNINGS Eugene Mahafley, Memphis, Tenn. iApliiialfidn August24, 1948, Serial 'No.-.-69-28l)'5 (ClQiGll -lifi) 2 Claims. 1

.Myiinvention relates toirii'provements.inisafety the operatingmechanism for the .raisirig and lowering roller of awnings, and "which"is adapted to prevent lowering of the awning sheet past a predeterminedposition beyond which damage might result to the awning structure and anunsightly appearance be presented by the awning, and whereby the stop isprotected against damage from rain, dust, and the like.

Another object is to provide a device of the character and for thepurpose set forth which is adapted to be incorporated in present-dayawning structures without necessitating appreciable alteration in suchstructures, is inexpensive to manufacture, and not liable to get out oforder.

To the accomplishment of the above, and subordinate objects presentlyappearing, a preferred embodiment of my invention has been illustrate inthe accompanying drawing, set forth in detail in the succeedingdescription, and defined in the claims appended hereto.

In said drawings- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating myimproved safety lock applied.

Figure 2 is a View partly in front elevation and partly in longitudinalsection of the safety lock detached and drawn to a larger scale.

Figure 3 is a view in transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure2.

Referring to the drawing by numerals, my improved safety stop has beenshown therein, for illustrative purposes, as embodied in a wellknowntype of awning in which the sheet i is adapted to be wound upon andunwound from a, roller shown in dotted lines at 2 with end studs, as at3, journaled in bearing brackets, as at 4, fixed to the building wall 5by upper and lower bolts 6, i. The bearing bracket 4 as shown has theform of a gear casing housing a worm gear drive, not shown, for the stud3 journaled in the bracket. Such a, worm drive is shown in U. s. patentto E. F. Barber, No. 1,688,776, dated ctober 23, 1948, to whichattention is invited. The sheet i is connected at its lower edge to theusual awning frame 8 having rear ends pivoted, as at 9, for verticalswinging of said frame on sleeves, as at iii, vertically slidable uponguide rods, one of which is shown at H, bolted, as at 2, to the wall 5.The numeral l2 designates the usual frame hold-down rod i3 pivoted, asat M, on the wall and pivotally and slidably connected, as at Hi, to theawning frame 8, in a manner and for a purpose which will be understood.

position and fdirectly beneath said bearing bracket. Forsuspefidingthe'guiae sleeve "it, "an upper end lip H is provided on oneside thereof with bolt holes l8 therein for receiving the lower bolts i,whereby said lip I1 is clamped to said.

bearing bracket.

A threaded shaft I 9 extends through the guide sleeve 95 with anenlarged upper end head 20 adapted to substantially close the upper endof said sleeve, and from which a short, tubular socket 2! extendsupwardly concentrically of said shaft and is provided with diametricallyopposite bolt holes 22 therein. The socket 2| is sleeved over a stubshaft 23 depending from the bearing bracket t and operatively connectedto the worm drive, not shown, in said bracket, for instance, as shown inthe beforementioned patent to Barber. A bolt 24 passing through the boltholes 22 and said stub shaft 23 secures the shaft iii to the stub shaft23 in pendant position. The shaft is is provided with a lower, reducedand scuared end 25 having a transverse bolt hole 25 therein. A hook 2 1with a socket end 28 sleeved over said end 25 is secured to the shaft l9by a bolt 28 passing through said socket end 25 and the bolt hole 26.The hook 21 is designed for the coupling thereto of the usual awningoperating crank shown in dotted lines at 29. A square nut 39 is providedon the shaft l9 and which slidably fits in said sleeve Is.

As will be manifest, the nut 30 is designed to be fed upwardly on thescrew-shaft IS in the guide sleeve 16 when said shaft is rotated in theproper direction to cause the roller 2 to unwind the sheet and thuslower the awning, and when said sheet l is unwound to the proper extent,to abut the head 2! and stop further operation of said shaft is in thedirection resulting in unwinding of said sheet I. Thus, unwinding of thesheet is limited in the properlv lowered position of the same. Bydisconnecting the socket 2! from the stub shaft 23, and lowering saidshaft l9 in impart a clear understanding of my invention, withoutfurther explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modificationwithout departing from the inventive concept, and right is hereinreserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class described for attachment to a stub shaftdepending from a fixed housing of an awning roller drive, said devicecomprising a sleeve of right-angled form in cross-section attachable atone end to said housing to depend therefrom, a screw-shaft extendingthrough said sleeve and having an enlarged upper end head attachabletosaid stub shaft and a lower hooked end attachable to a crank, and asquare nut on said screw-shaft slidably fitting in said sleeve andfeedable upwardly and downwardly on the screw-shaft upon rotation ofsaid screw-shaft and movable into engagement with said head.

2. A device of the class described for attachment to a stub shaftdepending from a fixed housing of an awning roller drive, said devicecom prising a sleeve of right-angled form in crosssection, means forattaching said sleeve at one end to said housing to depend therefrom, ascrewshaft extending through said sleeve and having an enlarged upperend head, means for attaching said head to said stub shaft, a lowerhooked end on said shaft attachable to a crank, and a square nut on saidscrew-shaft slidably fitting in said sleeve and feedable upwardly anddownwardly on the screw-shaft upon rotation of said screw-shaft andmovable into engagement with said head, said screw-shaft and nut beingremovable out of said sleeve for pre-setting of said nut into differentstarting positions thereon.

EUGENE MAHAFFEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 350,656 Brooks Oct. 12, 18361,187,077 MacCune June 13, 1916 1,630,770 Smith May 31, 1927 1,688,776Barber Oct. 23, 1923

